It is Monday and Chris and I packed up and departed for the highly anticipated trip to Zaporizhya and Berdyansk this morning. Today is the big week because we are expecting to pick up a court document tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, get Denya and Ana from the orphanage, drive back to Zaporizhya, get Edik, file the court document to receive their new birth certificates. These will call them by their new names and legally state they are now part of the family Bergstrom! We have our own desired order of events, but don’t exactly know in what order things will have to legally happen.

We stopped at Ocean Plaza Ashan (new mall, big grocery store) on the way out of Kyiv this morning to purchase coffee and chocolate gifts for the appropriate people, as well as to find one pair of shoes for Denis. I realized last night that although we have been collecting clothes and shoes for him, we didn’t yet have the size we expect him to actually wear at this time. There is an assumption that we need to provide all shoes and clothes for them when they leave the orphanage and come home with us so getting shoes was high on the list. We erred on the side of caution by buying three consecutive sizes just to make sure of his actual size once and for all as he has been wearing various ill fitting shoes at the orphanage. While at the mall sporting goods store, several soccer balls and a basketball also found their way into our cart. We know they will be well loved by the kids at the orphanage. (Adeline left her personal soccer ball in Denya’s possession at the end of our spring break trip. We shall find out this week if it survived these weeks of heavy use amongst so many skilled young players or if we will be replacing hers as well!)

Now we bounce along the lush green country roads, and from time to to time through a city or village. The pictures and commentary below are from our spring break trip (that I never published) so it is considerably more lush, green, and overgrown now than during the third month of March when these were taken. There are now bright yellow fields of canola that stretch far and wide that were not revealing their vibrant color on that trip.

At times typing and reading are impossible because of the patches upon patches in the road. There are plenty of unfilled potholes too. We are certain to need work on the shocks, at least, when we return home. But for now we anticipate seeing some or all of our new kids tomorrow and it is exciting. There will be so many “firsts” together, just staying in a hotel, going into a grocery store, or even a restaurant.

Mom B. runs a tight ship and the kids will be well cared for in our absence. The dishes, laundry, and mending pile has never seen such discipline. We are so thankful for her willingness to come so far to fill in during our time away.

Please pray for things to continue going well with Mom B. And the kids as well as for Chris and I. We have these couple days of continuing the paper chase to make everything final in Ukraine’s eyes. After that, once back to Kyiv, it should be smooth sailing obtaining final things for the USA side. I’ll keep you posted!

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And now for those (previous trip) photos mentioned above.

Just a glimpse at some of the sights in the Ukrainian countryside as we traveled from Kiev to Zaporizhzhya to Berdyansk, back to Zaporizhzhya, back to Berdyansk, and final stop in Zaporizhzhya on our way back to Kiev. (There seem to be several English versions of Zap…-Chris didn’t like the spelling I was previously using. Here are some other options: Zaporizhia, Zaporozyhe.) The first 11 were taken from the moving van so while I didn’t have time to compose the perfect picture, there were many sights worth remembering!

It’s a cemetery. The sign is for a cafe, not coffee. Coffee is “kava” or кофе. Chris says during the right season you can see people harvesting walnuts from these trees that line the countryside highways. Those driving by can stop and purchase the nuts from the person who has already done the labor of gathering them. Large garden spaces being prepared manually. Eggs for sale! See the little blue table in the foreground? I don’t know if you bring the money and knock on the door or leave it somewhere, but it was windy on this particular day so it can’t just be left on the table and there wasn’t a jar. We see these tables with things for sale by the hundreds in Ukraine. It is a very common practice. Whatever is in season will be placed on a small table or basket. Apples, eggs, dairy products, etc. Sometimes it is attended, but often is not. Lots of free range chickens. I didn’t see any crossing the road or dead on the side of the road. Goats. Many cheerful shades of blue and green on the village homes. City of Berdyansk. Looking down over a neighborhood from a hillside park. At the same park looking over the same neighborhood and the Sea of Azov. Back seat photographer. Bye-Bye!